Illinois is an example of Democrat incompetence and should be preserved to remind people

Steve Chapman:

With Halloween approaching, the way to scare small children is to conjure up specters of witches and ghosts.

Terrifying economists is easier: Just say, "Illinois."

It's been suggested that North Korea and Cuba be preserved in their present form as museums documenting the folly of communism. By that logic, Republicans might want to lose the governor's race in Illinois so it can go on illustrating the dangers of untrammeled Democratic rule.

The incumbent is on the ballot, but in an important sense the election is a sham. Though Pat Quinn has taken the oath of office twice, the de facto governor-for-life is Michael Madigan, the Chicago Democrat who has been House Speaker -- and dominated state policy -- since 1983, except for a two-year interruption when Republicans had a majority. So the choice is really for the state's second most powerful official.

On one side is the incumbent Quinn, an affable Springfield fixture who made his name as a reformer and gadfly, only to become governor when Rod Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office before going to prison. On the other is Bruce Rauner, a private equity magnate who has never run for office before but touts business expertise that produced a net worth he figures at "hundreds of millions of dollars."

Detractors portray Rauner as a charmless bully who doesn't understand the give-and-take of governing. But if a pleasant personality and political savvy were invaluable traits for this office, experts would be flocking to Illinois to learn the secrets to efficient government and economic prosperity.

They aren't, and no wonder. Illinois has the worst public pension debt in the country. Its bonds have been downgraded so far that it faces the highest borrowing cost of any state. The nonpartisan Civic Federation says the state's huge backlog of unpaid bills will grow this fiscal year, lamenting "a return to unsustainable fiscal practices."

In a recent survey, Illinois got an "F" for "small business friendliness." Moody's Analytics predicted that this year it will have the lowest rate of job growth of the 50 states.
...

There is more.

Illinois raised its income tax rate in a recession to further chill the business climate.  Democrats seem to hate Rick Perry because his policies work, but it is hard for anyone not on the take to like how Illinois works.